75 years for man in beating death of girlfriend's son, 4

A man convicted of the beating death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old boy on the boy’s birthday was sentenced Friday to 75 years in prison after an emotional court hearing.

Cesar Ruiz, 36, likely will spend the rest of his life in prison, and he “earned every single day of it,” said Cook County Judge Stanley Sacks.

Sacks said the details of the murder of Christopher Valdez on the day after Thanksgiving 2011 were among the most horrific he’s heard in his 21 years on the Cook County bench.

“This is right near the top, maybe at the top,” Sacks said during the hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Before Sacks handed down the sentence, Ruiz stood up in court in his orange jail jumpsuit and asked “for forgiveness.” While he maintained his innocence, he said he made “a mistake” in not alerting the proper authorities about Christopher’s mother, Crystal, who also has been charged. Ruiz and Crystal Valdez were a couple at the time of the boy’s death.

Ruiz sat emotionless when his sentence was read, but cried during other parts of the hearing. When his 16-year-old son, Cesar Ruiz Jr., told the court his father “never laid a hand on me” and was “not capable of harming an innocent child for no reason,” he rubbed his face with his hands.

Cook County prosecutors Lisa Longo and Jeff Allen had asked the court for the maximum 100 years for Ruiz. Showing Sacks photos of the boy’s bruised face and of him dressed for Halloween as Mario from Super Mario Brothers, Longo called Ruiz “the worst kind” of killer.

“The kind that (chose) an innocent, helpless 4-year-old boy as a punching bag,” she said.

Prosecutors told the court during Ruiz’s trial last year that Christopher sat at the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day unable to eat, his face covered by a hooded sweat shirt. He was found dead the morning after by relatives, face-up in a blanket on the couple’s bed.

Crystal Valdez, also faces murder charges. Her trial date has not yet been set.

After the sentencing, Christopher’s aunt said the day was a “victory for Christopher.”

Katrine Valdez read a victim’s impact statement in court, talking about her nephew’s love of school and Spiderman.

“The void can be crippling,” she said of Christopher’s absence in the family. Now, instead of playing with his cousins, he’s “playing with the angels,” she said.